Sinkhole Repairs in Newberry Home

Published March 11th, 2013

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NEWBERRY-

There could be a happy ending to the story about that home in Newberry that was found to sit over a sinkhole. We first told you last friday about the homeowner who who has been dealing with sinkhole repairs for months. On Monday was a big step in completing the process.

An estimated 350 yards of grout is being pumped underneath the home in Newberry located in the Newtown sub-divison.Homeowner Donna Gillis said she suspected something was wrong with her home after a crack on the garage floor appeared out of nowhere and a hole opened in her yard.

"It was a very small hole, but you can tell it sunk in,not dung out," said Gillis.

Last August engineers inspected and evaluated Gillis' home

"The insurance company sent engineers several times until they had determined exactly what it was and it was a sinkhole," said Gillis.

Environmental Protection Director of Alachua County Chris Bird said in cases like this, a lot of times there is a huge cavern under the ground.

"Like a big cave and so depending on situations it can collapse if there is too much weight with a house, or a road or something like that," said Bird.

Engineers confirmed there is a cavern nearly 30 feet deep under Gillis' home.Even though she was disappointed, her goal was to save her house.On Monday engineers started pouring grout in some pipes that were drilled below her home last week.

"Really when they do this grout they are trying to really fill this large void that is under the structure. In this case it's a house and if they get enough grout in there then they have really stabilized the under ground," said Bird.

Bird said he believes this process does not guarantee that there won't be another sinkhole in the future, but in most cases filling up a hole with grout tends to work.Something gillis said she has confidence in.

"Once they finish stabilizing the house I won't have any worries at all. The whole sub-division can wash away, but my house will still be here," said Gillis.

Thirty days after they are finished filling the hole with grout, the workers will come back and do chemical grouting; which permeates the soil and solidifies it into sand-stone like mass.